What's going on?

Professional services firm Deloitte reported record annual revenues on Thursday.

What does this mean?

Deloitte�s the biggest of the �Big Four� professional services firms, a group of top-tier brain-for-rent companies that lend accounting and consulting expertise to businesses. And now that firms are shaking things up � improving online customer support, updating systems, toughening supply chains, you name it � in the wake of Covid, the big dog�s services have never been so sought after. That might explain why consulting revenues are up 24% in the last financial year from the one before, taking gold as the firm�s fastest-growing segment. Auditing and assurance revenues were up 9% too: after all, with more companies sharing information about their environmental impact, more auditors are needed to review those riveting reports. For Deloitte, that means record-breaking total revenues, jumping 18% to within touching distance of $60 billion.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Pivotal partnerships.
A big chunk of those sales � a cool $16 billion � came from partnering with huge tech groups to bring services like AWS and Salesforce to more customers. Not every �Big Four� titan can take this tack: rival firm EY audits a whole host of tech companies, so conflict of interest rules mean it can�t form the same lucrative partnerships that Deloitte�s hoovering up. That�s one of the main reasons EY�s planning to separate its audit and advisory businesses, so it can bid farewell to those constraints and say a cheery hello to beefed-up consulting revenues.

Zooming out: Take a hike. Or ten.
Still, Deloitte might struggle to repeat that success this year. The European Central Bank increased interest rates by 0.75% � taking them to their highest since 2011 � on Thursday, and warned more hikes are likely on the way to help control inflation (tweet this). With the Federal Reserve likely to follow suit in the coming weeks, the next few months could feature more hikes than a weekend in Yosemite, making loans more expensive for businesses and leaving them with less cash to splash on Deloitte�s special services.